American Journal of Educational Research, 2014, Vol. 2, No.

8, 698-702
Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/2/8/20
Science and Education Publishing
DOI:10.12691/education-2-8-20

Individual Characteristics, Job Characteristics, and

Career Development: A Study on Vocational School
Teachers Satisfaction in Indonesia
Eka Daryanto*

Department of Mechanical Engineering Education, Faculty of Engineering, State University of Medan, Medan, Indonesia
*Corresponding author: ekadaryanto@unimed.ac.id

Received July 24, 2014; Revised August 10, 2014; Accepted August 14, 2014
Abstract The job satisfaction is reflected by the affective reaction of an individual on to his/her work related
factors. This study explores the relationship between individual characteristics, job characteristics, and career
development with job satisfaction of teachers in vocational schools at the Province of North Sumatera, Indonesia.
The sample size of this study was obtained using the proportional random sampling which further resulting a total
number of 166 teachers who were found having the expected qualification in Mechanical Engineering subject. The
hypotheses tests based on the path analysis on the research model revealed that individual characteristics, job
characteristics, and career development directly influence job satisfaction. Summary of findings and managerial
implications in this study are discussed and put forward.
Keywords: individual characteristics, job characteristics, career development, job satisfaction, vocational school
teachers
Cite This Article: Eka Daryanto, Individual Characteristics, Job Characteristics, and Career Development:
A Study on Vocational School Teachers Satisfaction in Indonesia. American Journal of Educational Research,
vol. 2, no. 8 (2014): 698-702. doi: 10.12691/education-2-8-20.

(X2) and Career Development (X3). And these traits and

1. Introduction
The job satisfaction has been a pivotal issue in defining
the organizational effectiveness. It reflects an individual
feelings towards work that affects both the individuals
and organization performances [1]. Hence, the importance
of job satisfaction is to motivate organizational members
to engage in a kind of behavior that facilitate them in
accomplishing the effective performance and productivity
with their work [2].
Extant literature suggests that individual job satisfaction
is determined by individual characteristic, job
characteristic and, career development (see for example
[3-10]. The basic premise of the relationship between
individual characteristic, job characteristic, and career
development with job satisfaction is derived from the trait
and factor theory highlighting that the individual is
different, and their different capacities may influence their
professional occupations [11]. Furthermore, [12] also
emphasize that the decision on an occupation from an
individual involves the individual desire and expectation
on the job thus can make his/her performance become
satisfactory. According to Sharf (1992) in [11], traits are
determined by individual characteristics and factors are
measured by particular expectation required by an
individual to achieve his/her successful job performances.
In this study, traits are determined by Individual
Characteristics (X1). Factors involve Job Characteristics
factors variables are partially and simultaneously
influence Job Satisfaction (Y).
The Individual Characteristics variable is extracted
from Hackman and Oldham theory of job characteristics
which focusing on personal characteristics that determine
their job motivations [7,8]. Previous studies from [4] and
[10] reveal that personal characteristics such as age, tenure,
gender, educational level, and strong work ethics of an
individual are factors that influence individual
perceiveness on his/her job satisfaction.
The job characteristics model has been used as a
platform for managers in designing jobs that will further
satisfy the individual needs [5]. The authors also highlight
that job characteristic proxies of the Hackman and
Oldhams consisting of autonomy, feedback, skill variety,
task identity, and task significance influence the job
satisfaction. When employers are suited with the
appropriate autonomy, relevant feedback, sufficient skill
variety, clear task identity and significance; they will be
more firm psychologically. Thus, it is important for
employees being occupied with these characteristics as it
will affect their perceiveness on the job they are attached
with, increasing their responsibility and significantly
enhancing their vision on every task they should be
working [8,13]. Furthermore, the employee will be more
satisfied with their job and in turn, it will reduce the
employee absenteeism and turnover [5].
The career development involves employees to relate
their efforts and the world of their work in fashioning their
699 American Journal of Educational Research
individual work identity [14]. More importantly, the
author emphasize the influences on and outcomes of
career development are one aspect of socialization as part
of a broader process of human development in
establishing their existence as a social actor in a
professional institution. Put another way, the career
development will satisfy the individuals need to be
acknowledged within a particular social circumstance.
According to [3] and [15], the efforts on employee
development contribute to the employee commitment to
the organization improving the work productivity and
likewise reducing absenteeism and turnover intentions.
This study measures the career development based on the
argument modified within [3]underlining five major
factors. They are: (1) skills development; (2) the
development of career maturity; (3) the sufficient
knowledge of the individuals on their job; (4) the
employees expectation on their career development, and;
(5) emotional responses, and; (6) the relevancy between
employees job, knowledge and skills with their existing
career development.
As the educator, a teacher plays an important role in
building and developing students intellectual capacity for
their future needs. As this young generation will take the
lead to continue the development of the nation, providing
them with a high-quality learning process must be taken
into consideration by respective bodies in the relevant
government structure. Accordingly, the capability of
teacher, like any other profession, needs to be
continuously upgraded to fit with the most current
condition and stakeholders needs, hence reserving them
with a pride as an educator. They will also grant a respect
from the stakeholders valuing the teachers professional
job as a cornerstone in the development of a nation.
However, in conducting their educating duties, the
teachers face many challenges that influence their efforts
in achieving the objectives as earlier mentioned. These
challenges are vary among educators which also
influenced by particular factors coming from both internal
and external conditions of the teacher [16]. More
specifically, according to [17,18,19]; factors related to the
individual psychological condition e.g. individual
satisfaction, work condition, pride, and motivation are
considered as the determinants for internal factors of
individual to maximize their performance. Externally, the
teachers job satisfaction can be reflected in the work-
place condition, the social-relationship among the teacher,
colleagues and stakeholders, and the provision of job-
related training that beneficial to maintain teachers
professionalism [20].
The school atmosphere is a unique condition as this is
the place where various social interests are integrated. The
characteristic of this social interactions also varies across
educational levels, from elementary to post-graduate, or
educational systems, between general and vocational
schools. The arguments to decide which side to be more
emphasized have been remained unsolved [21]. For
instances, such schools establish their particular role in
different societies. In a more details, these authors
illustrate that the Germanys system which involves
fully vocational schools as well as those mixing
vocational and general education is highly regarded and
consisted over half of the countrys upper secondary
students. In other countries, however, vocational schools
serve as markers of a students lower socioeconomic
status: in Hungary, 54% of pupils in vocational schools
were from the bottom socioeconomic quartile, and in
South Korea the figure is 52%. In other countries still,
these schools are simply treated as a last port for students
who are unable to succeed in more academic
environments. As the consequence, these phenomena
underline the creativity of the teachers involved within
particular educational systems to maintain the broader
success of their students.
The Indonesian education system has also faced quite
challenges in equipping the students for the successfulness
of their further academic paths. In particular, [22]
highlight the disproportion number of qualified teachers
between secondary schools (including vocational schools)
and primary schools as one of the major concern affecting
the low quality in the teaching process. Accordingly, [23]
emphasizes that the importance on teachers training to
improve teachers performances to strengthening the
teaching and learning process in the actual classrooms.
Thus, it will further create the dynamic growth and elevate
the knowledge index of local students in the Asian region.
As mentioned earlier, job dissatisfaction among
teachers, if not addressed seriously, will further affect the
education of the young generation. To the best of the
authors knowledge, very limited study have been
demonstrated the influence of individual characteristic,
job characteristic, and career development on job
satisfaction of educational workers, particularly on
teachers in the vocational schools. Given the importance
of the study, this research aims to analyze the influence of
individual characteristic, job characteristic, and career
development on the job satisfaction of vocational school
teachers in the Province of Sumatera Utara, Indonesia.
This study provides significant insights resulted from
different type of organization extensifying the important
of valuing individual characteristic, job characteristic, and
career development to increase job satisfaction of
vocational school teachers.
2. Research Methodology
2.1. Research Model and Hypotheses
As described in the previous section, the basic premise
of this study underlines that individual characteristic, job
characteristic, and career development on job satisfaction
of educational workers, particularly on teachers in the
vocational schools. It is derived from the trait and factor
theory complemented with the Hackman and Oldhams
job characteristic models to further rationalize the research
framework of this study. Figure 1 provides a visualization
of the relationship between individual characteristic, job
characteristic, and career development with job
satisfaction.
For the purpose to explain the objective of study set
earlier on, this study develops five major hypotheses
focusing on the direct relationship between all independent
variables (individual characteristics, job characteristics,
and career development) and job satisfaction. The overall
hypotheses are described as follows:
Hypothesis 1. The individual characteristics positively
influence the career development.
 American Journal of Educational Research
Hypothesis 2. The job characteristics positively
influence the career development.
Hypothesis 3. The individual characteristics directly
influence the job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 4. The job characteristics directly influence
the job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 5. The career development positively
influences the job satisfaction.
2.2. Sample, Data Collection and, Data
Analysis
The sampling frame used in this study was obtained
from the Directorate of Elementary Teachers Education
[24] focusing on total number of vocational school
teachers from state and private vocational schools in the
Province of North Sumatera, Indonesia. The population of
this study was all teachers who are specialized on the
subject of Mechanical Engineering Skills amounting 238
teachers in total. The sample size of this study was
gathered based on the proportional random sampling
which further resulting a total number of 166 teachers who
were found having the expected qualification.
For the purpose of data collection, a questionnaire was
developed as the main instrument of this study and
distributed to all samples. All of items questioned within
the instruments were constructed relevant to research
objectives, research questions, and literature review
references. The research questionnaires consist of number
of Likert-scaled queries following the four variables
within this study: individual characteristics, job
characteristics, career development, and job satisfaction.
To test the hypotheses, this study used a path analysis
method. According to [25], the path analysis approach is
suitable to determine the magnitude and significance of
the causal relationship between the observed variables
(see Figure 1. research framework). The author also
underline that the path analysis is more powerful to
measure the causal relationship using the mediating
variable(s) in a single model without segregating several
regression testing. The testing result will estimate the
structure of the main path from the independent variable(s)
to a dependent variable. The main path will be indicated
from a standardized regression coefficient, demonstrating
whether there is a direct effect or indirect effect occurred
within the research model. A Spechts Goodness of Fit
Estimate was used to examine that the model fits the data
based upon how well the model reproduces the observed
correlation matrix [26]. The author suggests a perfect fit
would give a Q of one; less than perfect fits yield Q's less
than one.
Figure 1. Research Model
700
3. Discussion and Analysis
Based on the theoretical perspective earlier mentioned,
this study expects that personal characteristics, job
characteristics, and career development are determinant
factors of the teachers job satisfaction in vocational
schools in the Province of North Sumatera Utara. Before
conducting hypothesis testing, we examined bivariate
correlation between two different variables and the results
are in-line with the hypothesized relationships (see Table 1).
Accordingly, path coefficients in the path analytical method
are extracted using Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation
(see Figure 2). In particular, the hypotheses testing were
conducted into two structures. Firstly, it examined the
partial relationship between individual characteristics and
job characteristics with career development (H1 and H2).
And secondly, it estimated whether there are direct
influences between individual characteristics and job
characteristics with the mediating effect of career
development on job satisfaction (H3, H4, and H5).
Table 1. Path Coefficient and significance levels for initial model
Hypothesis Correlation Coefficient Path Coefficient
1 0,247 0,255*
2 0,387 0,535*
3 0,389 0,134*
4 0,581 0,248*
5 0,701 0,501*
*Significance at the 0.001 level (2-tailed)
The results from hypotheses tests reveal that all
hypotheses (H1 - H5) are accepted. In a more detail, the
results indicate that:
1. Individual Characteristics influence Career
Development (p=0.255, significant at 0.001)
2. Job Characteristics influence Career Development
(p=0.535, significant at 0.001)
3. Individual Characteristics directly influence Job
Satisfaction (p=0.134, significant at 0.001)
4. Job Characteristics directly influence Job Satisfaction
(p=0.134, significant at 0.001)
5. Career Development influence Job Satisfaction
(p=0.501, significant at 0.001)
Figure 2. The Result of Path Analysis Model
4. Concluson and Implication
In general, the job satisfaction reflects the affective
reaction from an individual to both the set of work and
work related factors he/she is dealing with [5,27]. The
701 American Journal of Educational Research
results of hypotheses tests indicates that Individual
Characteristics Job Characteristics, and Career Development
partially (as well as simultaneously) influence Teachers
Job Satisfactions in Vocational Schools in the Province of
North Sumatera Utara, Indonesia. In brief, the overall
findings also consistent [4,6,9,10] studies highlighting that
individual demographic, job characteristics variables and
career development variables are considered as significant
determinants for employees job satisfaction. It can be
concluded that the larger the gap within the teachers
individual characteristics, job characteristics, and career
development; the higher the levels of both job
dissatisfaction and yet resulting the higher level of job
turnover intentions. Accordingly, the findings of this study
confirm the traits and factor theory highlighting the
differences in individual preferrences and capacities that
influence their perceiveness on the satisfactory of their
professional occupations [11,12]. Traits are signified from
the internal attributes of individual characteristics, and
Factors are derived from external drives as reflected in job
characteristics and career development.
[3] emphasize that the employee growth and
development activities e.g. continuing education courses,
tuition reimbursement, career development skills training,
opportunities for promotion and internal career advancement,
coaching, mentoring, and leadership development programs
positively associate with the employees job satisfaction.
In accordance to [15], the efforts put forward employee
development has contributed to the employee commitment
to the organization, increasing their work productivity and
in turn decreasing absenteeism and turnover intentions.
Relevant to this study, the career development program
facilitates vocational teachers to maximize their individual
job satisfaction. It can be done through several activities
e.g job transfer to a different location, peer assistance and
continuous educational training; to refresh and elevate
teachers knowledge, skills, ability, and experience. Therefore,
these programs can increase teachers satisfaction in
committing on to their existing professional job.
The findings from this study also underline the
importance on minimizing the gap among personal
characteristics and improving the clarity of job assigned
relevant to teachers competencies through proper and
continuous career development. Thus, it can maximize
teachers commitment and motivation to achieve the goals
of their respective educational institution. Respectively, it
will also assist the accomplishment of the general
objectives of national educational system.
However, there are several limitations for further
concerns in future studies. First, this study was conducted
in the Province of North Sumatera and the results may
provide particular magnitude to the respective region. The
sample size also raised concern for the generalizability
issue. Hence, future studies can consider these limitations
to provide a stronger justification on the level of
magnitude and directions of the relationship among
observed variables in a broader scope of analysis.
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